


Hubris Knows No Bounds

by hashtag_anthems



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: 'if i'm gonna die at least it's by my own hand' type of thing, Don’t copy to another site, M/M, Realization of Feelings, Sickfic, and now ferdinand is taking care of him, brief mentions of bernie and manuela, hubert is sick but it's not serious he just feels awful, hubert was trying to build up poison immunity and accidentally poisoned himself too much, oh uh also brief moment where hubert is like, which i don't think counts as anything too bad but i'd rather warn just in case
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-02
Updated: 2019-10-02
Packaged: 2020-11-10 18:24:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20856227
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hashtag_anthems/pseuds/hashtag_anthems
Summary: In which Hubert has no regard for his own health, and Ferdinand has to clean up the mess.





	Hubris Knows No Bounds

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MidoriMint](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MidoriMint/gifts).

> shoutout to my roommate for getting me into this ship when the only route I've played is silver snow. thanks for beta reading this and answering all my questions about these boys considering one of them spent half the game trying to kill me.

“You know, if you did not poison yourself on a regular basis, this would not be happening.”

Hubert couldn’t muster up a response. His head was still spinning, as it had been for the past… how long had it even been? Hours? Days? He had no way of knowing how long he slept at a time. If this was how he died, then at least he had the dignity of going out on his own terms. He could come to terms with this.

“Oh calm down, it is not that serious. You just have a stomachache from all the _literal poison_ you have been drinking lately.”

Oh, had he been speaking out loud? He hadn’t meant to vocalize any of that.

“Yeah, keep working on that and eat your soup.”

Soup? Oh, yes, he’d been… trying to eat soup. Wait. “Did you make it?” Hubert asked. Oh, his voice sounded even worse than he feared.

“You are trying to _recover_ from a poisoning, not make it worse.” While any other day, Hubert would quite enjoy Ferdinand’s laughter, today it was like a dagger being plunged deep into his skull and stirring things around. “Sorry, right, quiet. No, I did not make it. Bernie made it. You love Bernie’s soup.”

It was true. Bernie was a much better cook than most of their allies. The soup was trustworthy then. And under any other circumstances it would have been delicious, but Hubert had little appetite for anything right now. He had one hell of a headache. Was it from the poison or from the fact that he probably hadn’t had his usual amount of caffeine in… he still wasn’t sure how much time had passed.

“It has been two days. You’ve been sleeping off and on for most of it. And no, you can’t have coffee. You need to rest.” Ferdinand took the bowl from him regardless and pressed a cup into his hands. “It will not kill you to drink something to settle your stomach.”

Hubert could be convinced to admit that he was coming around to the concept of tea. He still preferred his morning coffee, but there were… benefits to tea that he couldn’t deny. He did tend to feel better whenever he was drinking tea. His mood lifted, and he found more enjoyment than usual from his day when he stopped to have a drink at the tea pavilion.

“Careful. Keep going like that and I’ll have to tell Manuela that you’ve gone from exhausted to delirious.”

Hubert resolved to shut up and drink his tea before he said something he would truly regret. It was mild, and Ferdinand was correct about it easing his nausea, if only a bit. He could manage small sips.

“Of course I was right. I know my teas.” Ferdinand was more reserved in his laughter this time, thankfully. “I’ll leave you to rest. Edelgard wanted updates.”

“No!” Hubert nearly choked on his tea. Ferdinand looked shocked, and Hubert didn’t blame him. It was probably the most coherent thing Hubert had said in days. “I mean… I can’t stop you, but…” How could he explain himself when he didn’t even know why he had said it in the first place? It must have been the fever. He was shaking. He was _freezing_, actually. How was he this cold? But his face felt so hot… Perhaps he had underestimated the severity of the poison…

“Right… You should rest. If your fever gets any worse, I will have Manuela come and check on you.”

“I’m not contagious…” Hubert pointed out. “It won’t kill you to humor a man on his death bed.”

“But you are not dying,” Ferdinand pointed out. “Fine. I’ll stay until you fall asleep. Finish your tea.”

He did finish his tea. It was good tea, but he would expect nothing less from Ferdinand. For all the man bragged about his skill in brewing tea, it was no exaggeration that he made the only tea Hubert could stomach.

He didn’t remember drifting off, but when he woke up again, night had fallen, and the moon was shining through the window in _just_ the right way to illuminate the fact that Ferdinand had _not_ left when Hubert fell asleep. He was sound asleep as well, though he couldn’t possibly be comfortable, kneeling on the floor like that with his arms crossed under his head on Hubert’s bed. He… did appreciate the fact that Ferdinand hadn’t left him.

He was so patient with Hubert, even when Hubert nearly died from his own impatience. And it wasn’t the only time Ferdinand had expressed his frustration over Hubert’s safety by fussing over him in the aftermath. And as much as he was trying to win Hubert over to the tea drinkers’ side, he was always ready to try a new coffee blend with Hubert when he found one. A couple of times over the years, he had even found a blend before Hubert did and insisted that Hubert prepare it for them because Hubert “was the only one who could do it justice.” Though Hubert would never admit it, he much preferred their afternoon tea time, but watching Ferdinand’s face scrunch up in ill-masked disgust every time he took the first sip of a new coffee variety…

Another shiver wracked Hubert’s body, but this time it was not a result of his fever. This time it was as realization dawned on him that he pulled the blankets tighter around his shoulders. For all his head felt clearer after his impromptu nap, it was still swimming with thoughts he was entirely unprepared for.

Perhaps… it wasn’t the tea that brightened Hubert’s day so much…


End file.
